Pin Feathers
by Aerle
Summary: Two decades after the Earth exploded, Ace gets a choice, stay in prison or go work on a mysterious planet where rescued Earth birds live. Scifi AU. Birthday fic for ImperialMint.
1. Chapter 1

Happy (belated) birthday, Imperialmint :D This is my first scifi story, and I enjoyed writing it more than I anticipated :) Unfortunately, it also grew out of proportions, which is why I decided to split it up.

Beta'ed by the wonderful Lunarshores. She also suggested the title.

* * *

"Today's your lucky day, kid," the guard grouched as he opened Ace's cell. "Someone bailed you out."

Ace looked up in surprise. He had expected to be here for several months at least, as he didn't have any money himself, nor did he have any family who could help him. Who would want to bail him out? He doubted it would be his brothers since he hadn't told them he was here. He didn't want them to know how pathetic he was by himself. He was their big brother, but somehow they had succeeded where he hadn't. Hence why he was in jail.

The guard just shrugged. "Just be grateful to them. And I better not see you back here, you hear?"

Ace smirked as he passed him. The guard, Smoker, would never admit it, but he was fond of Ace. It wasn't the first time Ace was here. He was a thief, a petty thief, but still. The universe was a big place to hide, but that didn't stop the cops from doing their jobs. Ace had been caught gambling with his stolen money, trying to make more.

Despite the size of the universe, Ace hadn't been able to land a job, so stealing was the only option to survive. It had started with some food here or there, but later it became more and more money. Yet piracy didn't seem his calling either.

Ace wondered who had helped him, and, more importantly, why.

Smoker walked with him to the entrance, where a man was standing. His brownish red hair was worked into a pompadour and he had a scar around his left eye. "Good to see you," he said cheerfully as if they were old acquaintances. "I'm Thatch, nice to meet ya." He held out his hand.

"Ace," Ace said and took the offered hand a little warily. He had no idea who this man was.

"I see you're confused. No one explained? I'm working for a man named Edward Newgate. Have you heard of him?" Thatch asked.

Ace shrugged. "I think so."

"Well, he is responsible for preserving many animal species after the Earth exploded, now over two decades ago," Thatch explained. He studied Ace's face. "I take it you were born after that?"

Ace nodded. He was born in the first generation of non-Earthling humans. He had heard a lot about this 'Earth', how people had inhabited it and called it home for millions of years, but long before the Earth exploded, they had started branching out to other planets. The time the planet would be destroyed had been calculated to the day by scientists, and all of human kind was evacuated safely. People had been less concerned about the animals, but one man had made it all possible. He had picked out planets that had a similar environment as where the animals lived on Earth and brought them there.

"So what's he got to do with me?" Ace asked.

"Well, Pops… I mean, Mr Newgate has a special programme for people like you," Thatch continued cheerfully.

"Like me?"

"You know." Thatch coughed. "Delinquents. Call it rehabilitation, if you will."

Ace scowled at him. "Are you one?"

"I was," Thatch admitted, smiling sheepishly.

"What do I have to do then?"

"Well, the animals Mr Newgate rescued are scattered around different planets with circumstances like the ones on Earth. However, these animals have to be protected, fed, observed, etcetera. For these purposes, Mr Newgate needs employees. Me, I'm overseeing a sea-planet, which is kinda cool. You know, fish 'n' stuff. "

"So, your job is watching these 'fish'," Ace said slowly.

Thatch laughed good-naturedly. "In a matter of speaking, yes. Me and my partner make sure they're fed if necessary, and we give tours to tourists. We'd prefer not to, of course, to leave the animals undisturbed, but we need the money. And it's a good way to educate people."

"I know nothing of animals. Especially not Earth ones. I was born after that planet was destroyed, remember?" Ace said. "So why me?"

Thatch shrugged. "I'm just the messenger."

"What if I refuse?"

"Then you should get used to sitting in a cell all day. Look, kid, I'm giving you an out here. Take it or leave it," Thatch said.

"Anxious to get back to your fish?" Ace said teasingly.

"You know, we have mammals too. And that's not what I'm anxious to get to," Thatch said a bit snappishly. "Are you coming or what?"

Ace looked from Thatch and his awaiting spaceship to Smoker, who was still standing there, smoking two cigars at ones. "And this is really okay?"

"According to my orders, yes. Just sign this." Smoker showed a hologram contract.

Ace read it through, but honestly, how bad could it be? Either he watched some animals for a bit, or he managed to escape and he was free. Either way, the prospect was more appealing than sitting in his cell for who knows how many more months.

Ace quickly signed the form and handed it back to Smoker.

"Congratulations," Smoker looked at Thatch, "he's your problem now."

Thatch grinned. "We can handle him."

"Oi!" Ace said indignantly. "I'm right here." Still, he followed Thatch into the spaceship.

"So, which planet will I watch then?" Ace asked as he strapped his seatbelt on.

Thatch had taken a seat in front of the steering wheel and was making ready for lift off. "I'm not sure. Pops… er, Mr Newgate will tell you that."

"Why do you keep calling him Pops?" Ace asked.

Thatch smiled. "He calls us his children. The whole organisation, it's one big family."

Ace hummed. A family sounded nice. He just wondered how much he would fit in.

* * *

The trip took three days, and three days aboard a ship with just Thatch was _very long_ , Ace came to realise. It wasn't that Thatch wasn't nice, because he was, or because he wasn't a good cook, because he was, or because he sang off-key, because he didn't. It was just… well, a lot of Thatch.

Plus, Ace didn't have that much stuff, just the things he had had before he went to jail – minus the money, of course – so he was generally bored out of his mind. The Earth-game of "I spy" Thatch had taught him was not that much fun in space, seeing it was mostly black around them. Watching a movie or reading wasn't an option either, because Thatch liked to chat and so talked through the whole movie.

Finally, they arrived on the planet where this Edward Newgate lived. The fact that the man owned a private planet was impressive enough, but the building on it was huge, not to mention the gardens.

Thatch showed him in a bit proudly and led him through the mansion. Ace stared his eyes out at the paintings on the walls and the other artwork scattered around the hallways.

An odd looking creature came running their way and greeted Thatch enthusiastically – by licking his face. Ace searched his mind to find a name for the creature. He had learned about some Earth animals in school, but there were so many, he had lost track of them. Besides, there were many non-Earth creatures to remember.

The animal was white with a pointed snout, wagging its tail as he jumped on Ace to greet him. Earth animals were strange.

"Stefan! Down, boy!"

The tongue stopped licking Ace's face, which he was grateful for, and the animal – Stefan, apparently – sat down, looking up at Ace and still wagging its tail.

"He likes you," Thatch said with a smirk.

Ace wiped the drool off his face. "I noticed." Though, truth be told, some races had weirder ways of greeting.

"This is Stefan," Thatch introduced them, "Pops' dog."

Dog, huh? That did sound familiar. Those were supposed to be quite popular on Earth, being held as pets – though Ace vaguely remembered that some cultures also ate them. He knelt down next to Stefan, who was quite a big dog, and scratched him behind the ears. This was the first Earth animal he had seen in real life, and he had to admit, he enjoyed it. If all Earth animals were like this dog, Ace was going to be okay.

"Come, let's find Pops," Thatch said and beckoned him along. Stefan followed in their footsteps.

They arrived in a large study, where an equally large man was hunched over a desk.

"Pops?" Thatch asked, and the man turned around.

Ace was amazed. He had never seen a human this large. Perhaps he had some alien blood in his veins.

Edward Newgate turned around with his desk chair and looked down at Ace with warm eyes that he hadn't expected.

Thatch slapped on his shoulder. "Pops, this is Ace. Ace, meet Edward Newgate, aka Pops."

Ace took the extended massive hand and winced at the thought that Mr Newgate could crush his hand without breaking a sweat. Still, with manners beaten into him in his childhood, he bowed slightly.

"Thank you for giving me a second chance."

A booming laugh filled the room. "That's quite alright, son."

Ace blinked at the word son. It made him feel… weirdly accepted.

"Have a seat, son." Mr Newgate pointed at a chair.

Ace did as he was told, and Thatch sat down as well.

"Well, boy, has Thatch explained what we do a bit?" Mr Newgate asked.

Ace looked at Thatch. "You take care of Earth animals, right?"

Mr Newgate nodded. "Indeed. As soon as we found out the Earth would be destroyed, we started planning out the evacuation of animals. The Earth was one of the planets with the most diversity on it. There were so many species with each their own need, so it took a long time to find environments that were fitting, or, if we couldn't find any, adapt the conditions of an uninhabited planet."

Ace nodded to show that he understood.

Mr Newgate smiled. "It is worth the hassle, however. We have managed to save many species – not all of them, unfortunately, but we've done our best. However, these animals need to be taken care of, fed, etcetera. That's why I need you."

"Yeah, Thatch explained as much. I don't know much about Earth animals, though," Ace said with a frown.

"He didn't even know Stefan was a dog," Thatch said, snickering, and petted Stefan's belly. "He looked like he was attacked by a Globorg or something."

"It was the first time I saw a real one," Ace snapped. "And besides, the Earth criteria of 'dog' is ridiculous! I've seen pictures and some are huge while others could fit in my hand. So excuse me for not recognising this one."

Mr Newgate smiled. "I see you know quite a bit after all."

Ace flushed. "J-just what I learned in school."

"So who do you wanna place him with? I think the dogs have enough caretakers," Thatch said to Mr Newgate.

He hummed. "No, I had something else in mind. Tell me, Ace, what do you know about birds?"

"Birds?" Ace repeated. He thought for a moment. "I think they come in a lot of sizes as well."

Mr Newgate nodded again and rose from his chair, looking even more giant than before. He walked to a corner and pulled a cloth from something. It turned out to be a cage, with several small creatures inside. They started chirp right away.

"These birds are called parakeets," Mr Newgate said. He pointed to them and named their species.

Ace tried to remember, but failed.

Mr Newgate put a hand into the cage. One of the birds hipped on his enormous finger, and he took it out of the cage so Ace could see it up close. It was tiny, especially in comparison to Mr Newgate, but really pretty, with coloured skin, or feathers, as they were called.

"Do you want to hold him?" Mr Newgate asked.

Ace looked at the bird for a moment and then nodded.

"Hold out your hand."

Ace did as he was told, mimicking the form of Mr Newgate's hand. The parakeet hipped on his finger. Ace looked at the tiny creature in awe. It looked so much better than on the holograms he had seen. This animal was warm, and alive. A hologram couldn't do that.

"Raise your hand," Mr Newgate said.

Confused, Ace did as he was told and held his hand on which the bird was sitting in the air. The parakeet pushed off his hand and started flying across the room.

Ace followed the bird with his eyes, completely mesmerised. The only things he had seen flying were spaceships and cars. This was something else entirely.

"Birds were one of the few creatures on Earth that could fly," Mr Newgate explained. "Not counting insects, of course, that's another department entirely."

"I'm sure Haruta would love to tell you about them, though," Thatch said snickering. "And put them down your shirt."

Mr Newgate laughed as well. "Well, what do you say, Ace?" he asked as he held out his hand again and the parakeet landed on it again. "Would you like to be in charge of birds?"

"I would be in charge of all birds?" Ace asked breathless.

"Well, not _all_ of them," Mr Newgate said. "Not all birds have the same needs. But you'll be in charge of tropical ones."

"Wait a second, Pops! You're not considering putting him with Marco, are you?" Thatch asked. "I don't think Marco would appreciate an assistant. You know how he is."

"A companion will do Marco some good," Mr Newgate said, with an air of finality in his voice.

Thatch seemed like he was about to protest, but closed his mouth again.

"Now," Mr Newgate said, "Thatch, if you will give Ace a tour through the museum? Tomorrow morning we'll discuss all you'll need to know about the planet and its inhabitants," Ace had the feeling he wasn't just speaking of the birds, "before Thatch drops you off. Agreed?"

Thatch nodded and Ace didn't see a reason to oppose. He just had one question. "Where do I sleep?"

Mr Newgate smiled. "Take your pick. There are enough empty rooms here. Now I'll bid you both good night."

Ace said goodnight as well and then followed Thatch through the mansion. When Mr Newgate had spoken of a museum, Ace hadn't expected there to be an actual museum on the premises. They left the house and walked through a beautiful garden. A sweet smell hung in the air. Ace didn't recognised most of the plants, but he supposed they were Earth plants.

They also met several other animals. Ace saw an actual cat, rabbits, chickens, pigs, horses and several other 'domesticated' animals from Earth. He was fascinated by them and wondered why his school had never taken him here. If they had, he would have paid more attention in class.

He was now more grateful than ever that Mr Newgate had given him this opportunity.

The museum contained many animals, though, unfortunately, these were all dead and stuffed. Thatch started his tour with animals that had been dead for millions of years, which he called dinosaurs. Of these beasts, only bones were left, but there were many reconstructions and movies to inform and entertain. They moved on to land mammals, insects and reptiles. There was even a butterfly house so Ace could see living butterflies for the first time.

Thatch explained that their usual tour guide had already gone home, and this Whitey Bay could supposedly tell him much more than Thatch could. Thatch knew a bit about everything, but it wasn't until they arrived at the section about sea creatures that Thatch could spout his knowledge.

Ace was a little surprised to find out how much Thatch actually knew about the sea animals. Apparently, there weren't only 'fish', but mammals as well. Ace was fascinated by a creature Thatch called a narwhal, which had a twisted horn on its snout. Thatch also showed him other animals, like crabs, lobsters and shrimp. The Earth oceans had contained the weirdest, ugliest, and most beautiful creatures, and Ace was almost jealous that he couldn't take care of these animals instead.

That was, until Thatch took him to the bird room. Ace stared his eyes out at the many kinds of birds there were.

"Yeah, Earth had like ten thousand species of birds, so of course we don't have them all, but this should give you an idea." He pointed out some different kinds, passerines, birds of prey, and more. Ace was utterly fascinated by all of them. It didn't matter if it was a duck, a parrot or a hawk, Ace loved them all. He ran from one end to the room and back every time he discovered another kind he hadn't seen before.

Thatch was amused by his behaviour, but eventually he started to yawn. "It's good to see you so interested, but I wanna go to bed."

Ace looked disappointed.

Thatch chuckled. "Feel free to run around all night in here. There are enough movies to entertain you, I'm sure. If you get tired, behind the door over there is an office you can sleep in." He pointed to a door in the corner. "Just make sure you come to the mansion for breakfast. Pops still has a thing or two he needs to explain to you."

* * *

Ace woke up in an awkward position surrounded by dead birds, which wasn't as disturbing as he would have imagined. He had fallen asleep during a film about penguins – which were just about the funniest birds Ace had seen.

A soft chuckle made him look up. On the other side of the hall, a woman was standing. Hastily, Ace scrambled to his feet and wiped the drool off his face as he smiled sheepishly at her. "Hi! Thatch said it was okay if I stayed here, so…"

She chuckled again. "I know, he called me to say I might find you sprawled out on the floor. Did you enjoy the films?"

"I did." Ace grinned broadly. "I'm Ace, by the way."

"Whitey Bay. I'm curator and guide here. So, Ace, do you have any questions?" she asked.

"Nothing but questions!"

She laughed. "You can ask me a few while I'll bring you to the mansion. Pops wouldn't want you to be late."

"Can I borrow some of the movies?" Ace asked.

"Normally, I would refer you to the gift shop, but I'm sure Pops will arrange something for you. Shall we go?" She turned to leave.

Ace hastened to follow her, feeling slightly bad about the mess he left. At a certain point he had started putting the stuffed animals together to compare them and he hadn't gotten round to putting them back in their original place. Well, Whitey didn't comment on it, so neither would he.

Instead, he asked nineteen to the dozen about birds, animals in general and the museum until they had reached the mansion. Whitey answered all his questions patiently, but she didn't go inside with him and instead turned back to the museum.

The moment Ace set foot in the mansion, he was almost tackled by Stefan. Ace grinned and petted his head. "Hi there. Can you show me where I need to go?" He had no idea where the dining room was – he just assumed there was one in a house this big.

Stefan just tilted his head a little, and Ace sighed. "Yeah, it was a long shot."

Fortunately for him, Thatch came picking him up, wishing him good morning.

"Morning," Ace said sheepishly.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Thatch asked with a teasing undertone in his voice.

"I really did. Did you know that some penguins mate for life and that the male hatches the egg?" Ace babbled on about birds until they reached the dining room. Ace sighed in relief when he recognised the foods on the table and not weird Earth food – though, he would have eaten it either way, he was hardly picky when it came to food.

Mr Newgate was reading the holographic paper when Ace and Thatch entered, and put it down as soon as he saw them.

"Good morning," he greeted friendly. "I hope you're hungry."

"I'm starving!" Ace said and stared to stuff his mouth with things he liked.

Thatch stared at him slightly disgustedly, but Ace was used to those looks. Mr Newgate just seemed amused.

When Ace was piling up his third plate, a music sounded and Thatch reached into his pocket. "It's Izo. I'll be right back." He answered the hologram call, and a pretty face came into view.

"Good morning, darling," the hologram said. He grinned as he noticed Mr Newgate. "And Pops. My, what have we here?" Izo continued when he discovered Ace.

Ace halted his fork before it had reached his mouth.

"That's Ace. Freshly out of prison," Thatch grinned.

"That explains the appetite."

"Oi, are you implying I didn't feed him properly on our way here?" Thatch said indignantly to the hologram of Izo.

"Of course not, love. I was only kidding. When are you coming back?"

"As soon as I've dropped Ace off, and I'm planning on leaving right after breakfast." Chattering, Thatch left the room along with Izo's hologram.

"Mr Newgate, Izo's from the sea planet too?" Ace asked as he continued his breakfast.

Mr Newgate smiled warmly. "He is. And please, call me Pops. Now, Thatch seems eager to leave, so let's get to business, shall we?" He leaned back in his chair.

"Sure," Ace said with his mouth full, and continued eating.

"There are a few things you need to know about the planet you're going to," Mr Newgate continued. "The climate there is similar to the tropical rainforest on Earth – I take it you have heard of that?"

Ace nodded.

"Good. It is warm and damp, perfect for several types of tropical birds. However, the planet was not uninhabited when we discovered it. On the ground, dangerous creatures dwell. We chose not to kill them, because that would defeat the purpose of saving animals, don't you agree?"

Ace shrugged.

"Because of this, we couldn't place there any tropical animals who live on the ground, those have received other accommodation. For the birds, however, it was a good place to stay."

"But wait," Ace interrupted, "if you can't live on the ground, where will I live?"

Mr Newgate smiled. "We have built platforms high above the ground, so you'll be actually near the birds. We needed to place it so high up because of a certain giant wormlike creature, which jumps high in the air to catch prey and devours it with razor sharp teeth."

Ace gulped and became pale.

"The planet is a dangerous place, so I need to know if you're up for that. You will be safe as long as you stay on the platforms, and listen to Marco's instructions," Mr Newgate finished his talk.

Ace nodded slowly. "So… there is a chance I'll get eaten?"

Mr Newgate hummed.

A smirk spread across Ace's face. "Bring it on."

* * *

Thatch made ready for take-off, as Ace was hopping up and down in his chair, barely able to conceal his excitement. This was not what he had been expecting to happen when he was thrown in jail for petty theft, but he wasn't complaining.

Okay, so the prospect of being eaten didn't appeal to him as such, but the adventure did. Plus, he would practically be living between tropical birds.

There was one thing that was bothering him, though.

"Hey Thatch," Ace asked as they flew through space, "this Marco guy, what's he like?"

Thatch remained silent for a moment.

"You seemed to worry he might not like me," Ace added.

Thatch sighed. "Yeah… He needs some time to warm up to people. Try not to judge him right away. He has had a hard life and prefers on being alone."

"Sounds like he's one party animal," Ace muttered, crossing his arms before his chest. "Can't I come with you?"

"Do you want to take care of birds or not?"

"Well, yeah," Ace whined. He liked the sea creatures Thatch had shown him as well, but there was something about birds…

"Then you'll have to put up with Marco. Don't worry, he keeps to himself a lot. Oh, look, we're here." Thatch moved the spaceship so it could land.

They soon lowered into the atmosphere of the planet. It was hot outside, and the temperature in the space ship immediately rose.

"Sorry about that. I hope you're good with the heat. We said the climate was similar to the tropical rain forest, but…" Thatch said and wiped his brow. "Well, you might have underestimated it."

Ace shrugged. "Heat never bothered me." He pressed himself up against the windshield of the spaceship as he saw the crowns of the trees nearing. Soon, he could hear different sounds in the air, varying from chirping to screeching. While Ace was fascinated when he caught a colourful glimpse between the leaves, the sounds almost hurt his ears.

Thatch grinned at him, and continued to lower the ship.

Suddenly, they moved through some sort of bubble and the sounds vanished. The temperature also went down.

Confused, Ace rubbed at his ears. "Have I gone deaf?"

Thatch chuckled. "Nah. You can imagine one can't sleep with all that sound, right? That's why we built this shield – the bubble you see. To keep the sound out. Plus, it also keeps the bird poo out, which saves a lot of cleaning. The bubble cleans itself, and it regulates the temperature."

"You don't have robots here?" Ace asked confusedly. On almost every planet it was common to have robots to do the dirty work.

Thatch shook his head. "For some reason, large electronics stop working after being here for a longer time. Also goes for ships, which is why I can't stay too long."

Thatch led the way out of the space ship. As Ace climbed down the small ladder, he looked around him. Through the bubble, he could still see hundreds of birds flying around, but he couldn't hear them anymore.

The space ship had landed on a platform. Behind them, a path was made out of wood, which lead to a reasonably sized house, also made from wood. Earth wood, Ace imagined, as it had a strange, brownish colour.

Ace ran towards the edge of the platform, which was contained in the bubble, as was the house, and pressed his nose up against it to admire the birds. He heard footsteps approach, and assumed it was Thatch, until he heard Thatch cheerfully say, "Hey, brother."

Ace turned around and saw that a man had approached them. He was tall, with blond hair and a relaxed posture. He was obviously older than Ace, but by how much, Ace couldn't say.

So this should be the infamous Marco.

"What are you doing here?" Marco asked Thatch, who grinned.

"I'm bringing your new assistant." He gestured towards Ace.

Ace put up his politest smile and stepped in their direction. "Hi, I'm Ace."

Marco gave him a once over and then turned to Thatch. "I don't need an assistant. You can use him yourself."

"Pops insisted I brought him here," Thatch protested.

"I have no use for him. I manage fine on my own, Pops knows that too."

"Well, then you take it up with him, because my orders were clear." Thatch crossed his arms before his chest. "I'm not taking him with me."

Ace had been looking from one to the other, but the way they talked about him started to irk him. "Oi, I'm right here!"

Marco shot him an unimpressed look, but then sight. "Look, kid, I'm sure you're rather here than doing community service, but you're not needed."

"Who are you calling a kid, old man," Ace spat back. He was getting annoyed. Thatch had told him Marco was difficult, but he hadn't expected to be refused without even giving him a chance.

Marco looked at Thatch. "He is _not_ staying here."

"Why don't you let him decide?" Thatch turned to Ace. "Do you want to stay here with Grumpy McGrumperson?"

Ace looked at Marco. "No," he said.

Marco looked at Thatch triumphantly.

"But I wanna stay with the birds." Ace looked over his shoulder longingly.

Thatch stuck out his tongue to Marco. "That's settled then. I'm off to see Izo. Don't worry, I'll send him your regards. And you get Pops', of course, Marco. Along with a present." Grinning, Thatch climbed into his space ship and waved.

Ace waved back, but Marco called after him.

"You can't leave him here with me!"

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. Just don't forget to feed him!" With that, Thatch dove into the spacecraft and started the engines before anyone could comment.

Marco and Ace took a few steps back as the spaceship flew into the air. When the sounds of the engine had died away, Marco sighed in defeat, his shoulder slumped.

Ace didn't really know what to say to him.

Finally, Marco turned around. "I haven't introduced myself," he said stiffly. "I'm Marco."

"Ace," Ace said, slightly caught off guard.

"So you said. Well then, you wanna be my assistant? Impress me."

"Excuse me?" Ace asked confusedly.

"Impress me. You don't look old enough to have lived on Earth, but you must have had a fascination for birds for years to qualify as my assistant. You must have studied them to be of use to me," Marco said.

Ace scratched the back of his head. "Well, I wouldn't say for _years_. I do have a fascination for them, though. Since last… night?" He smiled sheepishly.

Marco sighed. "Pops better know what he's doing," he muttered.

"I can tell you what I've learned in one night," Ace offered. "I'm a quick learner, so I'll try my best to be of service to you." He bowed.

Marco sighed deeply. "Well, it'll be a while before the next ship stops here to take you back, so we might as well use the time to your advantage."

"Wait… You're still gonna send me away?" Ace asked disbelievingly.

"Like I said, I have no use for an assistant. You'll be more useful somewhere else. I'll convince Pops of that too." Marco turned around and started walking in the direction of the house. "Come on."

Disappointed, Ace strolled after Marco. He had really hoped that he would have been allowed to stay.

Suddenly, realisation hit him. If he wanted to stay, he would have until the next ship came to convince Marco he was useful. With renewed determination, Ace quickened his pace.

They left the bubble, and immediately the temperature rose. The air was moist, and Ace could feel his hair dampening. "Is the weather always like this?" he inquired.

"This, or this with rain," Marco said, shrugging. "What, can't stand the heat?" He almost sounded hopeful.

Ace snorted. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm fine with heat."

Marco looked indeed disappointed, but shrugged it off fairly quickly as he continued to lead the way. They were still walking over the planks that formed a path, high above the ground, Ace now noticed. It made sense, as Mr Newgate… Pops, had warned about beasts on the ground. The trees were still higher than them, but the ground was far, far below. Ace gulped as he peered over the edge. He couldn't even see the bottom.

"Watch out that you don't fall."

Ace startled when Marco was suddenly behind him, almost causing him to fall.

"I take it you signed a contract. Which means we're liable if you fall to your death. So please don't do that." Marco started walking again.

"Thanks for the concern," Ace muttered as he followed Marco.

The path they were walking on split up in side paths several times, and Ace realised there was a whole system of paths high above the ground. More often than not, Ace could see birds flying nearby, sometimes skimming him narrowly, other times just sitting on the branches of the gigantic trees. It was the most amazing thing Ace had ever seen.

Finally, Marco came to a halt on a platform, covered in what Ace would imagine was bird excrement and moss. They were still surrounded by trees and, in extension, birds. On the platform, there was also a telescope, to look at the birds, no doubt.

Marco walked over to the telescope and peered through it, turning it a little until he seemed to be pleased. "Come here, Ace."

Ace did as he was told and looked through the telescope as well. He saw a dark blue bird with a curved beak.

"You're looking at a hyacinth macaw," Marco explained. "Or _Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus_ , in Latin. You know what Latin is, right?"

Ace nodded. "A dead language spoken by the Romans on Earth. I have gone to school, you know."

"Like I know what they teach you nowadays," Marco muttered. Then he cleared his throat and started to tell about the macaw family. After that, he moved on to another kind of bird. Some of the birds came sitting on the railing as if they wanted to listen to Marco as well. They were perfectly content around him and didn't even mind when Marco gently grabbed their wing and spread it to show Ace how it worked.

It was a fascinating afternoon for Ace, even more than the night he spent at the museum, because now the object of his study was actually alive. Marco had food with him as well and let Ace feed the birds.

"So, how do you manage to take care of an entire planet by yourself?" Ace asked when Marco had decided the lesson was over for today.

"It's only a dwarf planet," Marco said with a shrug. "Besides, the forest doesn't cover all of it. A large part are just wastelands, which I advise to stay away from. I take it that Pops has told you a bit about what dwells on the ground here?" When Ace nodded he continued, "There's more of that on the wastelands. We haven't disturbed the ecosystem by bringing the Earth birds here, but that doesn't mean we want to feed them either."

Ace nodded. To be honest, he had become quite curious to the creatures dwelling the ground below. He leaned a bit more over the edge, but the bottom couldn't be discerned.

Suddenly, Ace saw pointy teeth the size of his fist, set in a round mouth, nearing his face. For a second, he stood frozen, a second that was almost fatal to him, had Marco not pulled him away from the edge.

Wide-eyed, Ace stared to where the creature just had appeared, now already gone from sight. "What the hell was that?!" he stammered.

"Meet one of the indigenous creatures, the Jumping Raiku. The name is taken from an ancient fantasy game. (1) It can jump high in the air to catch prey. That's the only species here that noticed the presence of the birds and tries to eat them for dinner. Fortunately, most birds are clever enough and see him coming. The Raiku also only jumps once or twice a day, so you don't have to worry much," Marco explained. "Just don't lean too far over the railing."

Ace nodded, his heart still racing. The birds had indeed scattered. Maybe Ace should leave the original inhabitants in peace. He turned to Marco and bowed. "Thank you for saving me."

Marco seemed surprised, his droopy eyes widening slightly. "You're welcome." He looked at his watch. "It's almost dinner time. Are you hungry?"

Ace nodded, taking a few calming breaths to calm his still racing heart. He was always hungry, really.

Marco had started to lead the way again, and Ace followed him.

"Do many tourists come here?" he asked. "I mean, you're not the friendliest guide I can imagine…" He grinned sheepishly at the dirty look he received.

Marco sighed and turned. "Tourists don't come here anymore. Not since one…" He looked at the railing.

He didn't have to finish that sentence for Ace to get the picture, and Ace nodded.

"Which is why I don't get Pops sending you here. This planet doesn't make any money without tourists, so an extra mouth to feed makes no sense." Marco seemed more to let out his frustrations than talk to Ace. Ace kept silent.

They arrived at the house. Thatch had explained to Ace that delivery ships would bring food and, for Ace, also new clothes. He would have to make do with the few things he had with him when he went to prison – which really only the clothes on his back.

Marco gave him a reluctant and short tour through the house. There was a living room, kitchen and study. It was cosy, but seemed to be built for two, which was proven when Marco opened another door.

"You'll be sleeping here for the next few days."

Ace looked around. There was furniture, sure, but everything was covered in a layer of dust. Ace sneezed, dust flying everywhere. "How can I sleep here?" he asked indignantly.

Marco shrugged. "Clean it. I don't get guests who spend the night, as their ship would stop working after two hours."

Ace stared at him, blinking. "Clean it? Me?"

Marco rolled his eyes. "Spoiled brat," he muttered under his breath.

"I'm _not_ spoiled! It's not my fault robots clean stuff up where I come from," Ace protested, insulted. He pouted a little.

"As I said, robots don't function here. No large electronics do."

"But how do you _live_?" Ace asked dramatically.

Marco just sighed. "The cleaning supplies are in the closet over there. I'll start dinner."

Sighing, Ace walked over to the indicated closet and opened it. He had no idea what he was looking at, and just grabbed the first thing he could reach. It consisted of a long stick with on top some sort of brush.

"It's called a broom," Marco's voice suddenly sounded behind him. He almost sounded amused.

"Broom," Ace repeated.

"The brush goes down." Marco flipped the so-called broom over. "You can use it two sweep." He demonstrated.

"You don't have to get condescending on me," Ace snapped and pulled the broom from Marco's hands. "I would have figured it out. It just seems… weird."

"It was used on Earth for thousands of years," Marco remarked, "even after the invention of the vacuum cleaner."

Ace looked at the broom in his hand. It did seem useful if you wanted to clean yourself, he guessed.

"And this is a bucket." Marco picked it up.

"I know what a bucket is!" Ace snapped. Marco enjoyed this a little too much.

Snickering, Marco filled the bucket of water for him and put in some cleaning product.

Sighing, Ace went to work. He first used the 'broom' to sweep all the dust together, before Marco handed him a 'dustpan and brush' to easily throw the dirt away. After that, he brushed the floor with a hand brush and cleaning water.

Marco decided to help while the food was cooking by beating out the mattress with a 'carpet beater', and handing him sheets.

Ace was still on his hands and knees when Marco announced dinner was ready. Ace wiped his sweaty forehead and looked pleased around the room. It had been a hell of a job, but it finally looked like somewhere he could have a pleasant stay.

Outside, it has started to rain, raindrops tapping on bubble.

They ate in silence, though Ace stuffed himself with relish. There were many pills on the market that were an instant meal, but Ace never understood why someone would give up food. He was happy Marco seemed to agree.

"Do you always cook?" Ace asked.

Marco hummed as he took a bite. "Not every day. I tend to forget. But I enjoy cooking, so if I still have enough supplies, I like to put together an actual meal."

Satisfied with the answer, Ace continued eating.

When Marco started to clean the table, Ace couldn't contain his curiosity anymore. "Marco, what's Earth like?"

Marco stiffened and didn't turn around as he spoke. "Just be glad you've never lived there."

"But it all sounded so wonderful when we were taught in school," Ace protested.

Marco turned around, his eyes dark. Instinctively, Ace moved back a little.

"Of course they don't teach you what happened there in the finals days of the Earth," Marco all but growled. "Never ask about that again."

Numbly, Ace nodded. He wasn't sure what was going on, but Marco obviously didn't have many pleasant memories to his life on Earth. It would be best to suppress his curiosity.

After helping Marco with the dishes – which was another weird thing to do yourself, Ace thought –Ace decided to watch a movie. Taking out his watch on which everything was stored, however, he noticed that it wasn't working properly, much to his annoyance. When he was about ready to throw the device against the wall, he decided it was time to stop. Groaning, he let himself fall back on the couch.

"Something wrong?" Marco asked as he entered with a beverage called 'tea', which, apparently, had been quite popular on Earth, despite the fact that it was dead leaf water.

Ace waved with his wrist. "The stupid thing isn't working!" His eyes widened. "You don't mean that my watch doesn't work either here?" His lower lip trembled.

"Calm down. Small devices should work here. We have some electricity, solar power. There are lamps too, see?" He pointed to the ceiling. "Your reader should be adjusted, though. Not worth the trouble for a few days."

"But then what the hell am I supposed to do without my watch?" Ace whined.

"Read a book."

"They're on my watch!"

"I meant an actual book." Marco rose from where he had just taken a seat and took a rectangular shaped object from a shelf. He handed it to Ace.

Ace studied the object closely. It was a little bigger than his hand and consisted of loose leafs made of a weird material.

"What's this?" he asked as he rubbed the page between his fingers.

"It's called paper. It's made from wood."

Ace stared up at Marco. "You're shitting me."

"I can assure you, I'm not." Marco sat down again. "Before paper, people used animal skin to make parchment, and before that, they made papyrus from some kind of reed. Again, I'm not shitting you," he said when Ace opened his mouth. "You can read, right?"

"Of course I can read." Ace flipped to the first page, frowned at it and turned it. "But not this!" he called out. "What the hell kinda language is this?"

"English," Marco said with a grin.

"Why would you want to read that? It's a dead language; it's like… learning Latin!" Ace huffed.

"I enjoy reading in different languages," Marco said. "As you can see, there is not that much you can do here on a rainy night, so learning new languages keeps me busy."

"Old languages you mean," Ace muttered. "Seriously, what century do you live in, like, the twenty first or something?"

Marco shook his head and rose, bring Ace another book, but in Chinese this time.

"Finally, something that makes sense," Ace sighed in relief. (2)

While Ace was reading, Marco went into his room. Ace could hear voices coming from there, though he couldn't hear what they were saying. The first voice was Marco's and the other, a deep one, was probably Pops. Marco called no doubt to complain, and Ace resisted the urge to listen at the door.

Eventually, Marco came out of his room again, his face giving nothing away, and went straight to the kitchen to make more tea. Ace wanted to ask, but he doubted Marco would give him a straight answer anyway.

It was becoming dark outside when Marco announced he would retire to bed. Ace wished him good night and continued reading. It was just getting good.

At the door, Marco turned around. "Whatever you hear, do not come inside my room, understand?"

"Why, what are you gonna do?" Ace asked with a smirk on his face.

Marco sighed. "Nothing of what you have in mind, I can tell you that much. Though I doubt you would want to come in then. Anyway, just stay outside."

"What if you call for help?"

"I won't."

"But what if," Ace insisted. "I've watched movies, and they never ask that and it turns out it's some alien impersonator who eats them. There is already enough chance I get eaten here, I prefer it not being when I'm trying to help you."

Marco sighed again. "Fine. If I _explicitly_ ask for you, you can come in, and I won't eat you. Other than that, _stay away_."

Ace huffed a little and turned back to his book. Like he was so rude as just to barge into someone's room. He picked up the cup of tea Marco had refilled – Ace had found out he rather enjoyed it – and took a sip, when a loud and almost animalistic scream sounded. Ace almost choked on his tea and hastily put the cup down when a shadow fell over the small house.

Ace looked out of the window and froze when he saw it. The most gigantic bird he had ever seen flew outside. It was bigger than any of the birds he had seen in Pops' museum. Its feathers had a brilliant blue colour.

Ace threw his book aside and ran outside, following the bird. It left the bubble – Ace had learned that objects, including the birds, could pass though the bubble without effort – and Ace followed it, uncaring that it was still raining. He was soon drenched, but he could only stare at the bird. A bird like that he should have noticed before, shouldn't he? Marco hadn't mentioned something like that.

Focusing at the bird, he wasn't looking where he was going, until he walked against the railing and almost went over it for the second time that day. Shaking his head, he looked up in search for the bird, but it had disappeared between the trees.

Disappointed, Ace made his way back to the house. He considered telling Marco about what he saw, but dismissed that thought. Marco had explicitly said he didn't want to be disturbed, and seeing he lived on this planet for so long, he should know about it already.

Ace would just have to ask at breakfast.

* * *

Ace woke up in his new, and hopefully permanent, room. Still sleepy, he made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. He could hear the sound of water drops falling, so he assumed it was still raining.

Yawning, he stripped naked and pulled the shower curtain aside.

"Oi!" Marco called out as he covered himself.

Ace was immediately awake, and turned red-faced away. "I'm sorry!"

Marco sighed. "It's fine. I'm not used to having to lock the bathroom. Just hand me a towel and the shower is yours, yeah?"

Ace nodded, his ears still burning, and reached into the cabinet Marco had pointed the towels were. He handed it to Marco without looking. He heard Marco stepping out of the shower and when he came into Ace's view, he had the towel wrapped around his waist.

Marco looked at Ace for a moment, and only then Ace realised he was still naked. "I'll just go take a shower then," he said as he jumped into the shower and pulled the curtain shut.

* * *

After breakfast, during which Ace couldn't look Marco in the eye, Marco sent him back to the deck they had been watching birds the previous day, to clean it.

Ace remembered all the bird excrement and shuddered. "Do I have to?" he whined.

"If you want to make yourself useful."

"Does that mean you let me stay?" Ace asked excitedly.

Marco hummed. "Perhaps. If you prove to me that you are essential to run this place."

Ace huffed. "You watch me." At the door, he hesitated and turned around. "Hey, have you ever seen a large bird here?"

Marco turned around. "There are a lot of birds here."

"I mean really big. As long as me," he gestured towards himself, "and blue in colour."

Marco stared at him for a moment, but then shook his head. "You must have had a dream. There was no such bird on Earth. The largest bird there was, was an ostrich, but that one couldn't fly, nor was it blue."

Ace puffed his cheeks. He was sure it hadn't been a dream. His clothes might have dried during the night, but they certainly had been wet at some point! Right?

He was pretty sure he had actually seen what he had seen, though, when he didn't see any evidence of the bird outside – broken branches, excrement – he started to doubt it again.

If he saw the bird again tonight, he would make sure he had proof.

Ace set off to work, scrubbing the platform. It took him all morning, but while it was hard work, Ace didn't mind it too much. He could take the heat – though he had taken his shirt off – and several birds kept him company. He had actually started talking to them at some point, babbling about his life before he had come to this planet.

He even told them about his brothers, Luffy and Sabo, who had both become space pirates and were captains of their own ships, somewhere. It had been his ambition as well, long ago, but somehow, he had stuck with being a petty thief – and not a very good one. His money usually went to booze and gambling.

Pops really had saved his life, even if he didn't know it. Or perhaps he did, Ace wasn't sure. Somehow, he had the feeling that little went past Pops.

Ace knew Pops would let him stay in the Earth animals project, even if Marco sent him away. It didn't seem like Pops had been able to convince Marco to let him stay, though Marco did seem to be at least willing to give him a chance.

"So then he set sail too. Last thing I heard, he has a crew of eight now. Luffy has a knack for attracting weirdoes, though," Ace added in afterthought.

A parrot sitting on the railing next to him screeched and flapped his wings.

"Oi! I resent that! I'm not _that_ weird," Ace said indignantly as he leaned on his mop.

"Weird enough to tell your life story to birds," a voice behind him suddenly said.

Ace turned around and smiled sheepishly at Marco, who was holding a plate of food. "Well, they don't judge. And it's better than talking to myself, right?"

"You do that often?" Marco asked amusedly.

Ace looked away. "There's no one else to talk to if you're alone," he muttered.

The smile disappeared from Marco's face. "I brought you food," he said, changing the subject.

"Great, I'm starving." Ace grinned at him and pulled off his cleaning gloves before taking the plate from Marco and sitting down with it.

Instead of leaving, like Ace had expected him to, however, Marco leaned against the railing and said, "So, pirates, huh?"

Ace smiled around his fork. He didn't mind that Marco had overheard him talking about his brothers – though he did wonder how long he had been listening, because some things he had said were rather personal, and he _may_ have talked about Marco's naked body at some point. "Yeah. I was supposed to be one too, but I guess I'm not cut out for that life. I miss them, though. We usually call at least weekly."

Something in Marco's face softened. "They're very important to you," he said. It wasn't a question.

Ace nodded and looked up to the sky, smiling. "Yeah. They're my blood brothers."

Marco stayed silent for a moment and then pushed off the railing. "I'll have a look at your watch."

"But I thought you said it wasn't worth the trouble?" Ace asked confusedly.

"Family is always worth the trouble," Marco said. He took Ace's now empty plate and left without another word.

* * *

When Ace came back to the house, tired and sweaty, Marco presented his watch to him. "It should work now on the solar power," he said.

Ace's face split into a smile, and he flung himself at Marco. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He squeezed Marco tightly.

Marco was taken aback, but after a few seconds, he hesitantly placed his hands on Ace's back. "No problem," he muttered.

Ace moved back, the smile still on his face. "So I can use it now?"

"You should be able to, yes. Why didn't you tell me about them before?"

Ace shrugged. "You don't want me to stay, so I doubt you're interested in my life story."

Marco's face softened. "I'd like to hear about them, if you want to share."

"I have a better idea." Ace beamed at him. "I'll introduce you!"

Before Marco could object, Ace had called both his brothers. Luffy picked up first, though it wasn't Luffy's face that came into view in the hologram.

"Hello?"

"Yo, Franky," Ace grinned at him. He didn't know Franky as well as some of the other Strawhats – as his brother's crew was called – but he knew Franky was a fun, laid back guy. "It's been a while."

"It sure has, Ace-bro." Franky squinted. "Who's that? Finally starting your own crew, are we?"

Ace looked over his shoulder and laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, no. This is Marco. I'm staying with him for a while."

Franky shrugged. "Whatever you say. Super to meet you, Marco-bro."

"Nice to meet you too."

Ace noticed that the smile Marco wore was tense, as was his body. He took Marco's wrist in his hand, outside of Franky's view, and squeezed reassuringly.

"I'll get Luffy for you. I think he's trying to raid the kitchen. Not that Sanji-bro will allow that," Franky said snickering, as some yelling and noise sounded in the background. The hologram disappeared when Franky put him on hold.

In the meantime, Sabo had picked up with a sleepy looking face. When he saw Ace, however, he was immediately awake. "Ace! How are you? We've been worried!"

"Ace!" Luffy yelled when his hologram came into view. "You're back!"

"Sorry about not calling earlier. I'm in a place without electricity," Ace explained.

Sabo wrinkled his nose. "Then how do you live?"

Ace laughed. "I'm actually doing fine without. But I missed you guys."

"Who's the weird guy behind you?" Luffy asked, rude as ever, as he produced some meat from somewhere and started chewing.

"This is Marco." Ace pulled him by his wrist so he came into better view. "I'm staying with him for a few days."

"Eh, hi," Marco said nervously. Obviously, he wasn't very good with strangers.

"How do you do?" Sabo said as he tipped his hat.

"Your hair is funny," Luffy said at the same time.

Marco reached up. "Is it?"

"Don't listen to him," Ace said soothingly. "Come, sit. Marco wanted to get to know you guys," he said to his brothers.

Sabo crossed his arms before his chest. "How did you two meet anyway?"

Ace sighed. He should have expected an inquiry from Sabo. He was always the worrier. "I'll explain later, okay? Marco wants to know about you."

Luffy and Sabo both looked expectantly at Marco, who seemed at loss what to do.

"So, you are pirates?" he eventually asked.

"I am!" Luffy called out. "I'm gonna be the King of Space! Shishishi!"

Marco smiled. "You have quite some ambition."

They talked for a while, and during the conversation, Ace could see Marco visibly relax. He smiled as Marco was engaged in a heated discussion with Sabo about Earth animals, while Luffy only wanted to know how they tasted.

They talked for a bit longer, until Marco had to excuse himself, because he had some things to attend to. Sabo barely waited before he had left the room before a mischievous smirk appeared on his face.

"What?" Ace asked.

"You're so smitten," Sabo said, the grin growing if possible.

"With whom?"

Sabo rolled his eyes. "With Marco, obviously."

"What?" Ace would later deny that his voice sounded higher than usual. "I've barely known him two days!"

Sabo shrugged. "You obviously like him."

"Shishishi, you're so red, Ace!" Luffy chimed in.

"Shut up! Am not!" Ace snapped, his cheeks growing an even darker shade of red. "He's just… he's not as bad as he appears. Or wants to appear. He doesn't even like me."

"Didn't you say that he wanted to know about us?" Sabo countered. "Why would he take an interest in your life if he didn't like you?"

"Maybe he's just being polite. How the hell should I know?" Ace crossed his arms before his chest and pouted a little. "He won't even let me stay."

Sabo smirked again. "So you want to stay with him? I told you you were smitten!"

"Shishishi, you so are!"

Ace huffed. Luffy and Sabo now had teamed up, even though Luffy had no idea what he was talking about. Neither did Sabo, but Luffy didn't know anything about love in the first place.

That was a wrong turn of phrase.

"Sabo? Are you up?" a female voice suddenly said from Sabo's side of the line.

"Who's that?" Ace asked curiously.

"No one. Yeah, I'll be right there," Sabo called to the female speaker.

"Then why do you tell her that you'll be there?" On Ace's face grew a grin that was similar to Sabo's when he had talked about Marco. "Is she your _girlfriend_?"

"I bet she is!" Luffy chimed in, and Ace was glad that the little deserter had chosen his side now.

"She's not and shut up," Sabo muttered. "I have to go." He ended the call before either Ace or Luffy could protest.

Ace snickered and shook his head. "We should give him a surprise visit soon."

"We should!" Luffy said laughing. "I wanna see you soon too, Ace! And Marco. And I wanna eat an Earth bird!"

Ace laughed, but soon Luffy's cook, Sanji, called that dinner was ready, and Luffy hung up so quickly he almost forgot to say goodbye. Ace didn't mind, he was used to it.

* * *

That night, he waited up to see the bird again, but he must have fallen asleep, because he woke up when Marco knocked on his door to say breakfast was ready.

* * *

Over the next few days, Sabo's words kept haunting him, however. Did he like Marco?

He did, of course he liked his company. Marco was smart and witty and nice too once you got to know him. Ace hung on his every word when Marco spoke about Earth birds, because Marco knew a lot about them, and when he talked, he sounded so passionate, it was contagious, and in some ways even addicting. And maybe Ace liked Marco's voice just a bit too.

But despite the fact that Marco made Ace do the shitty chores (sometimes literally), Ace loved the planet he lived on. He loved the birds, all of them, and he seemed to spot a new species every day. He would nag Marco until he told Ace everything he knew about that particular bird, or gave Ace a book about it. Marco had even started teaching Ace some other languages, starting with English, so he could read books on his own eventually.

While Marco seemed to relax around Ace more and more, he still went into his room at sundown every night and told Ace not to disturb him. It was too bad, because during the day, they were busy with the birds and after that Marco taught Ace, so that didn't leave much time to hang out and get to know each other.

Marco didn't like to talk about himself, that much Ace had deduced. When he did talk, though, it was usually about his family – whenever it wasn't about birds. Ace discovered Marco was as fond about his family as Ace was about his brothers. However, Ace had never caught Marco calling them.

Ace hadn't spotted the mysterious bird again, either because he slept through the night, or just didn't see it when he went outside. He hadn't dared to ask Marco about it again, and had resorted into flipping through Marco's books with pictures in them and searching the internet. He couldn't find anything that resembled the bird he had seen, however.

That didn't mean he was giving up, though. Marco turned out to have a lot of books, stacked away in a backroom, with bookcases reaching up to the ceiling and movable ladders to get them. Ace loved the library, as Marco called it, which apparently had been a thing on Earth once upon a time. It struck Ace how old fashioned Marco was, but he guessed one would have to fall back on old methods if modern technology didn't work.

Tonight, Ace came back exhausted again. He had been cleaning all day, mostly the poop deck, as he had dubbed the platform with the telescope, much to Marco's amusement. It was amazing how well these birds aimed. Even within a few days, it looked almost as bad as the first time Ace came there.

Marco had waited with dinner until he had arrived, and they ate in silence. After dinner, Marco went to the bookcase to fetch the book he had been teaching Ace from, but Ace shook his head.

"Do you mind if we skip tonight? I'm beat."

"Alright then." Marco placed the book back and fetched another. After that, he sat down next to Ace on the couch.

Ace lay lazily next to him as Marco flipped a page from time to time. Ace could watch a movie or go read for himself, but he didn't feel like doing anything. He tilted his head a little and tried to decipher the title of Marco's book.

"Whatcha reading?" he asked after giving up.

Marco looked up. "It's a book about mythological creatures. Dragons, centaurs, phoenixes…"

Ace blinked. He had never heard any of those words before.

Marco seemed to realise and showed his book to him. It contained many pictures of animals Ace had never seen before, and apparently, they hadn't been indigenous to Earth either. Marco explained that people had made them up once upon a time when the Earth hadn't been discovered entirely.

Ace gaped at him. The Earth was such a tiny planet! How could people not have known what lived on there, when people could now travel the entire universe. Ace shook his head. He couldn't imagine staying on one planet his entire life. Of course there were people who preferred not to travel, but at least they had the opportunity. Apparently, the people of Earth hadn't been able to leave the planet for a long time.

Marco explained all the mythological creatures patiently, and there were a lot of them. Earth people sure had had imagination.

After a while, Marco asked if he wanted to drink something.

"Do you have something else from Earth to drink, besides tea?" Ace asked.

Marco thought for a moment, and then a smile appeared on his face. "I think I have something interesting."

He went into the kitchen and came back with a bottle made of a see-through material, but it didn't feel like anything Ace knew.

"It's made of glass," Marco explained. "And it's called rum. It was quite popular on Earth, especially during the age of pirates."

"Space pirates?" Ace asked but immediately realised this had to be an Earth thing again.

Marco smiled and started to tell about how pirates roamed the seas of Earth while he poured them both a glass.

Ace took a sip and made a face.

Marco laughed. "It'll get better."

He was right. After the first few sips, it did taste better. And, Ace noted, when he drank more of it, a lot of things got better. His ideas, for example. One of them, sprawling out on top of Marco, was his best, if he said so himself.

Ace realised that it had been a long time since he had physical contact with anyone, not counting the cops when he was arrested. Calling with his brothers was nice, but he couldn't hug a hologram. They should really fix that.

Marco smelled nice, and he was warm. Ace could hear his heart beat steady in his chest. It was nice, soothing.

Marco didn't push him off either, so Ace took that as an invitation to make himself comfortable. He could feel rather than hear Marco chuckle, and soon after Marco started playing with his hair.

"You enjoying yourself then?" Marco asked.

Ace hummed, too content to answer. Suddenly, Sabo's words didn't sound so confusing anymore. Of course he liked Marco! He had to smile.

"You know, Ace," Marco said softly, "tomorrow, a delivery ship arrives."

The smile fell from Ace's face and he sat up a little so he was sitting in Marco's lap. "You mean, this is our last night together? Is that why you fed me that?" He gestured to the now half empty bottle and almost fell off Marco's lap.

Marco held him steady by placing his hands on Ace's hips, however. "No, Ace. I… I've been thinking, and maybe you do belong here. I mean, you've worked really hard. So I think you should stay, if you still want to, of course. For the birds. Because they like you," he hastily added.

"For the birds," Ace repeated, the smile back on his face. "So you want me to stay?"

"You've been very helpful," Marco said evasively.

Ace smiled. "I'd like to stay. And you know what," he added teasingly, "I think that you might be a little bit like a bird too."

Marco stiffened for a moment. "Why would you say that?"

Ace grinned. "Because I think you like me too."

Marco smiled back at him and caressed a lock of hair behind Ace's ear.

Ace's gaze flicked down to Marco's lips, and the last thing he remembered was thinking how nice it would be to kiss Marco.

* * *

1 I've based it on the Like Like, an enemy from Zelda, which is a wormlike creature that eats your shield/rupees etc (it doesn't jump though). I've taken the Japanese name.

2 Taken from the series Firefly


	2. Chapter 2

**Happy birthday, ImperialMint ^^ The long overdue second (and final) part of this story :D**

 **Thanks MyLadyDay for beta'ing**

 **Warnings: mentions of human experimentation**

* * *

Ace woke up because of a loud noise that had suddenly echoed around him. The sound did nothing to soothe the headache that was pounding behind his eyes, and his memory was hazy. What had happened again?

Right, Marco had fed him some kind of Earth beverage. It had been stronger than he was used to, which explained his current state. It also explained why he was lying on the couch in the living room instead of in his bed.

The only question that remained was where that loud noise was coming from. From outside, that much was obvious, but if Ace didn't know better, he would say he was hearing the engines of a space ship.

His eyes widened.

Suddenly very awake, Ace ran outside. Marco's words from the previous night came back to him. Today, a ship would come to deliver food and the like. Would Marco sent Ace away after all? Why else would he have gotten him drunk? That bastard!

A bastard with wonderfully soft looking lips…

Ace stopped in his tracks, shaking his head violently, causing his head to throb harder. He cursed. He shouldn't have become attached to Marco. Even if he had warmed up to Ace in the past days, it didn't mean Marco wanted him to stay.

Ace snorted. Well, tough luck for him. Ace was going to give him a piece of his mind. He wasn't about to let himself be chased away, thank you very much. He liked it here, even if the company left something to be desired, and he wasn't about to go anywhere.

Content with his decision, Ace continued his search for the source of the noise, that had subsided by now. As expected, he found a spaceship landed on the spot where Thatch's had been only a few days ago. However, another sight made Ace stop in his tracks once more.

Marco was standing near the ship, his arms wrapped around a black haired woman. A woman with orange hair was standing near them, looking endeared.

It suddenly felt like a stone dropped on his stomach. Why hadn't he considered the possibility that Marco had a girlfriend? _Because he's a cold bastard_ , his brain helpfully reminded him, and he snorted. Well, better her than him. His nose turned up, Ace made his way over to the group.

The woman with orange hair seemed to notice him first. "Look at that," she said, "Marco's got company."

The black haired woman let go of Marco and turned to Ace, her lips curled in a mysterious smile. "Indeed. It's a good thing he hasn't been devoured by the man-eating animals on the ground. Well, not yet anyway."

Ace gulped at her disturbing remark, even more baffled by the fact that she kept smiling politely. "Hello," he finally said.

"Hello~" the orange haired woman said, her tone suggestively, but what she was suggesting, Ace wasn't sure.

"Hello," he just repeated, slightly nervous.

Marco cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, Pops deemed that I needed an assistant, so I got Ace. Ace, these are Robin and Nami." He gestured to the black haired woman first, and then to the one with red hair.

"Nice to meet you," Nami said.

"Pleasure," Robin said almost simultaneously.

"Hi." Ace looked from one to the other, unsure what to do. Marco probably wanted to be alone with his girlfriend, wouldn't he? "Well, I'll just leave you then."

"Not so fast, big guy," Nami said when he had turned around. "If you're his assistant, the least you could do is help unload."

"You're the delivery people?" Ace asked, surprised. It made sense, in a way. Marco wasn't the type to leave his planet often, so how else could he meet a girlfriend?

"Yup. Your presence explains why we have more food than usual, though the amount suggests there should be even more people." Nami scratched behind her ear as she looked at the list of contents.

Ace looked at Marco, who just shrugged. "Wait, does that mean I can stay?" he asked disbelievingly.

"I told you that last night."

Ace snorted. "You also got me drunk."

Robin chuckled, while Nami said, "Marco, you sly dog."

Marco coughed, probably to cover up his embarrassment about what they were implying. "Let's just get to unloading, shall we?"

Nami opened the hatch, and one by one, they went inside to get out the supplies. While working, Nami explained that they had deactivated the robots that usually unloaded, because they didn't work well on this planet.

The delivery consisted mostly of food, meal pills, and other things they had run out of. There were some clothes for Ace as well, but nothing to his liking or if it was, it didn't fit.

Marco looked at Nami. "Would you mind taking Ace to the nearest planet with a store to get him some clothes that fit?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

"What about Robin?" Ace asked confusedly.

"Don't worry about us. We'll enjoy ourselves here," Robin replied with that mysterious smile of hers.

Ace puffed his cheeks and had trouble not to pout. Of course they wanted time alone. Marco had a great excuse, because Ace still needed clothes and other things.

"Come along then, Ace." Nami was already standing on the gangplank, tapping her foot impatiently.

Ace looked over his shoulder, but Marco was already on his way to the house along with Robin. A feeling of sadness washed over him. Stupid Sabo and his ideas. If he hadn't said that Ace liked Marco, Ace might not have figured it out. He wouldn't feel so rejected then now.

Nami led the way to the command room and took the wheel. Ace flopped down in the seat next to hers and crossed his arms before his chest after fastening his seatbelt.

"What's up with you?" Nami asked after they had left the atmosphere of the bird planet.

Ace shrugged. "Nothing. Do they always send you away like that?"

"I don't mind. They go way back, so I understand that they want to talk. It's not like they see each other _that_ often. Besides, we can't leave the ship on that planet for too long, as the engine would die and we'd be stuck."

"Marco wouldn't mind that," Ace muttered.

Nami raised her eyebrow. "Someone's in a mood."

"He just never mentioned you two, is all. If they're such good friends, why haven't I heard of you?" Ace looked at her challengingly.

Nami focused back on space to see where she was flying. "Look, Robin and Marco might be close, but she does brings up bad memories, as does he for her. So I guess he doesn't like to talk about her, even if he does like to talk _with_ her, you know."

"Bad memories?" Ace asked. "What do you mean?"

She shook her head. "If he hasn't told you, it sure isn't my place to do so. All you need to know is that they are good friends."

Ace perked up at that word, even if the rest sounded a little worrisome. "Friends?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing." With a grin, Ace leaned back in his chair.

Nami looked at him with a raised eyebrow, when it suddenly seemed to click. "Oh, I see."

"N-no, you don't see. There is nothing to see," Ace said hastily.

"So I don't see that you thought they were dating and are now relieved to know that Marco is single because you secretly have a crush on him?" Nami inquired.

Ace felt his cheeks flush. "No."

"I see."

Ace was about to retort when Nami made the ship ready for landing. They had arrived on a small but busy planet with lots of stores. Nami parked the ship, and they walked outside. The atmosphere contained enough oxygen to walk around without a spacesuit. It made shopping easier, no doubt.

"Would you mind if we grab a bite first? I haven't had breakfast yet," Ace said to Nami.

She shrugged. "Sure. Marco's paying anyway."

"Does he know that?"

She shrugged again. "He should by now. Like you said, they always send me away, and I need to fill the time in some way. Sometimes I can make some deliveries, but I can't go too far since I need to pick up Robin again. So in a matter of speaking, he's paying me for the inconvenience." She held open the door of a café. "Shall we?"

They were served by a green space creature with eleven tentacles, and Ace immediately dug into his food. Finally something else than the weird Earth food Marco gave him. Instead, he had good old space jelly.

Nami made a face when he had started eating. "Has Marco seen you eat like that?"

He looked up. "Yeah, why?"

She rolled her eyes. "Good luck wooing him then."

"I don't want to woo him." Ace felt his cheeks heat up again and he carefully looked up from his plate. "Are you sure there is nothing between him and Robin?"

"Positive. Believe me, I know."

Something in her tone convinced him, and he let the subject rest.

After they ate in silence for a while, Nami placed her elbows on the table and rested with her head on her hands. "So, tell me, how long have you been staying with Marco?"

"Only a few days," he said with his mouth full.

She made a face again, but apparently, her curiosity won from her disgust. "Only a few days, eh? He must fancy you too if he's allowing you to stay already."

Ace looked up from his now clean plate. "You think so?"

She nodded as she indicted she wanted to pay to the waitress. "Well, I don't know him well, but from what I understand from Robin, he doesn't really like people. His reasons for that are obvious, Robin has trouble making friend as well, at least with humans."

"It's not obvious to me," Ace complained.

She waved with her hand. "Anyway, his brothers are the exception. And now you, apparently. It does make sense, in a way, though," she added thoughtfully.

"Why?" Ace asked.

"Aside from the fact that you're cute, you're also young."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

She patted his hand. "You'll understand in time. Come on now, let's go shopping." Her eyes glistened.

Ace ended up having a great time with Nami. His headache had subsided after eating. Moreover, he found out some things about Marco, but only what Nami had heard from Robin, and apparently, Robin wasn't much of a gossip. Nami, on the other hand, was. She ended up buying more things than Ace did, and Ace felt sorry for Marco, or at least for his wallet. However, having company aside from grumpy old Marco and the birds was kind of nice.

They spent all day together – counting days in the amount of hours it took on what was now Ace's home planet to rotate around its sun – before Nami brought them back. Robin came out of the house, as she had probably heard the engines of the spaceship. She waved at Marco as she switched places with Ace.

Ace waved at Nami, before she took Robin's hand and they entered the ship together. Not long after, the craft lifted up from the ground. Marco was standing outside the house and watched the ship leave.

Ace waved until they were out of sight and then sighed contently.

"I take it your shopping trip was successful?" Marco asked.

Ace help up his bags proudly. Usually, he would have teleported the clothes into his room already, but since that didn't work on this planet, he had to carry it. "I've got all the stuff I need now. Look at this!" He took a bright orange hat out of one of the bags and placed it on his head. "Do you like it?"

Marco stared at him for a moment with an expression Ace couldn't place, before he finally said, "It suits you."

Ace grinned and tipped the hat back. "You do know you paid for all of it, right?"

Marco sighed. "I do, unfortunately. Have you eaten yet?"

Ace nodded. He and Nami had gone out to dinner after the shopping. When Marco turned to walk back to the house, Ace called him back. "Marco?"

He turned around.

Ace looked at his new boots before taking a deep breath. "Nami said you and Robin were close and that she brings up bad memories for you."

Marco's back straightened and he became tense. "I see," he said with clenched jaws. "What else did she say?"

"That it wasn't her place to explain what that meant. But since it is yours, I just wanted to ask."

"If I chose to tell you, it would be my place." Marco turned around again.

"I figured that was the case," Ace said. "I didn't mean to pry. We only know each other a few days. You have no reason to trust me with your personal things." He stretched himself. "Anyway, I'm beat, so I'm off to bed." He walked past Marco, but froze when he started to talk.

"Thank you for understanding," he said softly.

Ace turned around and grinned at him. "Thanks for letting me stay."

* * *

Over the next few days, Ace noticed a change in Marco's behaviour. He had seen one once before, after Marco had talked to Pops and Ace's status had gone from 'definitely leaving' to 'maybe staying'. Marco had seemed to warm up to him a bit, especially after he had talked to Ace's brothers.

Lately, he seemed even more comfortable around Ace, and Ace couldn't help but wonder if it was because of something Robin had said, or because of his drunken night. Marco hadn't fed him anymore rum, or any other alcoholic Earth beverage for that matter, but he did spend more time with Ace. He helped clean the poop deck or just came by for a chat during the day, instead of only spending time with Ace in the evenings while teaching him a new language. Ace even caught Marco looking at him from time to time, though he always looked away when Ace looked back. He also still locked himself into his room at night.

Still, Ace couldn't help but feel that maybe, just maybe, Marco started to like him as well. He decided to put his theory to the test, first by dropping things near Marco and bending over to fetch them. After he had concluded, much to his satisfaction, that Marco was indeed staring at his ass, he decided it was time for more drastic measures.

One evening at dinner, Ace tried to touch Marco's hand as often as he could, though he always made it seem like an accident. He let their fingers brush together when Marco passed him something and 'accidentally' threw over his glass of water, dabbing it off Marco's chest. Unfortunately, Marco batted his hands away and left to change his shirt. Ace sighed. This wasn't going to be easy.

After dinner, Ace decided to go a step further. When Marco grabbed the books for Ace's daily language lesson, Ace sat down on the couch, closer to Marco than strictly necessary. However, while Marco was testing him, Marco moved away a little. Ace didn't have an excuse to slide over as well, until he made tea – Marco had taught him how to do that – and sat down again rather close. Marco switched his position soon after Ace had sat back down, once more moving over.

Ace was starting to get desperate. Either Marco was completely dense, or he had no interest in Ace after all. Still, he wasn't ready to give up.

Another day passed in which Ace tried his moves. He added some more, like licking his lips when he knew Marco was watching, and leaving the bathroom door unlocked when he was showering. Unfortunately, Marco wasn't as stupid as Ace was to walk into the bathroom when it was occupied.

By now, Ace didn't think he could be more obvious unless he was lying naked on Marco's bed with a rose clenched between his teeth – this type of Earth flower was still bred and had maintained its romantic connotations, or so Ace had heard. While it was tempting, Ace put that thought aside as a last resort. For now, he would do the mature thing and talk to Marco. At least then he would know for sure if Marco liked him or not.

It was after dinner, a little before sundown. Marco had left the house to check up on a bird that had been sick lately, and Ace had stayed behind to do the dishes. He did them in record time, and instead of drying them right away, he left them to dry on the counter. He couldn't wait any longer.

He found Marco on what he had dubbed as the poop deck, because the birds for some reason chose to do their business there a lot. Marco was leaning on the rail, watching the sun go down.

Cautiously, Ace approached him. He didn't want to startle him, because falling over the edge meant certain death. Fortunately, Marco seemed to have noticed his presence, as he turned around.

"Done with the dishes already?" he asked.

Ace shrugged. "You know. It's a stupid chore anyway."

Marco snorted, but Ace noticed a hint of a smile on his face. "As long as you did them. Did you want something?"

"Eh, yeah." Ace took a step closer, but lost his nerve. "How's the bird doing?"

"Very well, actually." Marco pointed up in the tree closest by them. The bird was sitting on a branch.

Ace smiled. "That's great."

They were silent for a while, before Ace took a deep breath and stood next to Marco. "Do you like me?" he asked flat out, before he would lose his nerve again.

Marco looked at him for a moment. "I let you stay, didn't I?" he finally replied. "I wouldn't do that if I didn't at least like you a little."

"Oh." Ace deflated a bit. "Good."

"It's been… nice to have company," Marco continued. "Nicer than I expected." He looked at Ace.

Ace smiled at him. "It's been nice staying here."

"Good."

They fell into silence once again. Ace was searching his brain to think of something to say. "I was thinking," he finally started, at the same time as Marco started.

"We should–"

They both laughed. "You go first," Marco said.

"No, that's okay. You go," Ace insisted.

Marco shook his head with a smile. "I was just thinking that–"

Suddenly, Ace couldn't take it anymore. Perhaps it was the setting sun, or the birds singing their last song before nightfall, but he couldn't help himself. Wrapping his arms around Marco's neck, he pressed their lips together.

The kiss only lasted for a second, and Marco looked thoroughly confused when Ace let go of him. He was just thinking up an excuse for his behaviour, when Marco's head shot forward and he kissed Ace again. Ace stumbled backwards, trying to find his balance back, but Marco's arms firmly wrapped around him prevented him from falling. Ace's hands clawed at Marco's back as Marco deepened the kiss, and Ace felt himself being pressed up against a tree. Birds flew away startled.

Ace couldn't help but moan into the kiss. He should have done this ages ago, if he had known Marco would respond like _this_. It felt so good to kiss him.

As suddenly as it had started, Marco pulled back again. They were both slightly out of breath, and Ace was sure his lips were as swollen and red as Marco's were.

Marco looked at him, something akin regret in his eyes. "It's getting dark," he finally said. "I'm going to my room."

Somehow, that didn't sound like an invitation for Ace to join him, and Ace's suspicions were confirmed when Marco walked away briskly without looking back. Ace stared after him, trying not to be too disappointed. Maybe Marco just needed some time to process what had happened. Ace did, in any case. Subconsciously, he touched his lips. Kissing Marco had been so great. He had never had a kiss quite like this one. Then again, he had never liked someone like he liked Marco.

It was no use wondering whether Marco liked him back or not. He had kissed Ace, so there had to be at least some kind of attraction. Ace would just have to sit him down to talk with him about what happened.

While Ace had been musing, it had become dark. Ace returned to the house, where he cleaned up the dishes. Then, he hesitated. Should he talk to Marco now? Marco always locked himself in his room at night, but this was important.

Ace took a deep breath and knocked on the door of Marco's bedroom. "Marco?" There was no reply. Carefully, he tried the doorknob. Much to his surprise, he found that the door wasn't locked. Opening the door, he peeked inside. Marco's bed was empty and looked untouched. "Marco?" he called again, looking around the door. He had never seen Marco's room. It was as soberly decorated as Ace's own, with just a wardrobe and a bed. Marco, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps he had gone out to clear his head. Ace decided not to worry. Marco knew the planet like the back of his hand, and he doubted anything could have happened to him. He had lived alone in this place for years, after all.

Closing the door again with a sigh, Ace resolved that he would just have to try again tomorrow.

* * *

Ace was up early that morning, making breakfast for Marco and trying not to burn anything. He wanted to surprise Marco. He hadn't heard him come in last night, but the sound of the shower running proved he was home, and Ace was glad he hadn't been worried.

As soon as he put the plates on the table, he heard the lock of the bathroom door turn – Marco had learned from his mistake – and Marco came out. He was dressed already, but was still drying his hair. Surprised, he looked at the table.

Ace tried, but he couldn't fight the grin that crept up his face. "Hi," he said.

"Hey."

"Breakfast is ready."

"So I see."

A silence fell, before Marco finally said, "You didn't have to go to all that trouble. I was planning on taking a pill and feed the birds." He hang his towel over the back of a chair.

"You don't want to talk about last night?"

Marco froze on his way to his room. "Is there anything to talk about?" he asked, but didn't turn to look at Ace.

"Of course there is." Ace walked over to him. "I wanted to talk last night, but you weren't in your room–"

"You went into my room?" Marco interrupted him sharply.

"I didn't snoop around or anything," Ace said, slightly indignant. "I didn't even go in, just peeked around the corner. Anyway, I assumed you went for a walk or something. I mean, I was kinda surprised about what happened." Ace bit his lip with a smile and looked at the ground.

"Ace…"

He looked up, his smile disappearing. "If you want to leave it as a onetime thing, you should tell me now."

"I don't." Gently, Marco caressed his face and smiled when Ace looked up. "I admit I was hesitant at first, but…" He looked at Ace and sighed with a smile. "I just really want to kiss you again."

Grinning, Ace pulled him close, uncaring about the breakfast that was getting cold. Marco led him to the couch, placing his knee on the cushions as he laid Ace down, all the while never letting go of him. Ace moved with his hand through Marco's hair, gently pulling it. Marco's tongue entered his mouth. Ace was never one to miss a meal, but right now, he couldn't care less about the food on the table.

Finally, Marco pulled back, panting heavily.

Ace made a pleased sound and played with Marco's hair. "I've wanted to do that for a long time."

Marco smiled. "You did?"

"You didn't?"

Marco moved so Ace could sit up. "For a while, yes."

"How long?" Ace asked cheekily.

Marco hummed and leaned against the back of the couch while Ace crawled in his lap. "Not right away, if that's what you're asking. I mean, I thought you were cute, but I really didn't see the need for you to stay. Until Pops made me promise I'd give you a chance."

"I'm glad he did," Ace said and kissed Marco's stubby chin.

"I'm starting to as well," Marco replied with a grin.

Ace raised his eyebrows. "Starting to?"

Marco just grinned at him.

Ace punched him playfully against his shoulder, before settling more comfortably in Marco's lap. "Anyway, you were telling a story."

"Right." Marco placed his chin on Ace's shoulder. "Well, I guess it started when you talked about your brothers. Just the way you love them so much even though you're not related – or perhaps despite of it – I could relate to that. And they are easy to talk to."

Ace grinned.

"And it all went downhill from there," Marco said with a dramatic sigh.

Ace elbowed him in the ribs. "I'm starting to think I preferred you as your grumpy self." In reality, however, he was glad Marco had loosened up, even if he hadn't expected such a sudden change.

Marco laughed and kissed his cheek. "Anyway, when you started to flirt with me, I figured you felt the same."

"I'm glad you noticed after all. I was beginning to think you were really daft," Ace said teasingly. "My next step would have been to lie naked on your bed."

Marco was silent for a moment, his head cocked to the side a little as if he was imagining it.

Ace elbowed him again. "Pervert." Marco smiled and pulled Ace close. Ace hummed pleased when Marco kissed him. "Play your cards right and you might get to see it after all," he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. He was surprised when Marco suddenly let go of him and sighed. "Is something wrong?" he asked, forehead pulled in a frown.

"Before we go any further, there is something you should know," Marco said. He didn't make eye contact.

"What is it then?"

Marco pushed him off his lap and rose, before starting to pace up and down. "I've talked with Robin about you, and she made me see that I need to be completely honest with you. That you should accept me."

"I do do that," Ace said, confused. Marco wasn't making any sense. "I like you, whether you're a grumpy old man or not."

Marco just shook his head and continued pacing. "That's not it. There is something you need to know…"

"Then _tell_ me," Ace pressed. He was really getting worried now.

"I can't." Marco stopped and turned to Ace. Ace was startled by how sad he looked. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I need to show you."

"Then do that," Ace said. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Robin apparently knew Marco's secret.

"I can't. Not now, in any case. Tonight."

"Is it the reason why you always lock yourself in your room?" Ace asked carefully.

Marco nodded, still looking sad.

Ace rose and wrapped his arms around him. "Okay, then show me tonight. I promise that you don't have anything to worry about. I'll accept you no matter what."

"Don't make promises you may not be able to keep," Marco said softly, before taking a deep, albeit shaky breath. "You'll see tonight what I'm talking about. If you change your mind about staying here, I'll understand. I'm sure Thatch'll be willing to pick you up."

"I'm not going anywhere," Ace said firmly.

"Just keep in mind that you can."

Ace wasn't pleased with how the conversation went, but Marco didn't seem to want to talk about it anymore and Ace respected that. He would see it tonight. Silently, they started to eat the now cold breakfast.

Ace didn't see much of Marco that day. He got the feeling he was avoiding him, and in all honesty, he couldn't blame him. He couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't ask questions about the thing that Marco could apparently only show him. He wondered what it could be. In the vast universe, he had seen a lot of things, and nothing seemed impossible to him. Still, Marco seemed convinced that Ace would only believe him if Ace saw it for himself, whatever it could be. Why only at night?

The suspense was killing him, and for once, he was glad that he could scrub the poop deck. It was hard work and took his mind off whatever Marco was going to show him.

Dinner was as quiet as breakfast, but Ace knew they wouldn't work on his languages tonight. Neither seemed in the mood. Instead, they watched a movie, though Ace barely saw anything of it, and he knew Marco was the same. He tried to distract Marco with kisses, but it didn't seem to work.

Finally, Marco rose. "It's almost sundown." He went to his room, and for a moment, Ace thought he had broken his promise to show Ace his secret. But soon enough, he came out again, wearing a robe.

Ace looked at him confused, but Marco held out his hand.

"Come."

A weird mix of emotions was rushing through Ace as he followed Marco to the poop deck. He was partly relieved that the waiting was over, partly curious about what he was about to see, and partly scared that he would never see Marco in the same light.

When they had arrived at the large deck, Ace could hear the birds sing their last song before dusk. Marco stood with his back turned to him, staring at the setting sun. The air around them was heavy, and for once, it had nothing to do with the hot, humid weather. Ace felt his heart beating fast.

"I know you're curious about what happened on Earth in its last days," Marco said suddenly. "And how I know Robin."

"Those two are related?" Ace asked surprised.

Marco nodded, but still didn't turn around. "When you asked the first time what Earth was like, I'm not sure what you expected as an answer. It's been a beautiful planet for millions of years, until it had been at its limit. People of Earth had then not inhabited the planet for decades, because scientists knew what was about to come. However, that didn't mean that the planet was uninhabited in that time."

"Do you mean the animals?" Ace asked.

Marco shook his head. "Of course, those were there as well, though Pops' evacuation plan was already underway by then. No, there were secret labs on Earth. Only the Universe Government knew about them and what they were doing. Humans were warned about what would happen to the planet, which was true, but the amount of time they still had left was false. The Earth would exist for decades longer than what they had been told. One couldn't go back to Earth anymore without explicit permission from the Government. Because they didn't want anyone to know what they were really doing there."

Ace barely dared to breathe. The fact that Marco knew all this, could only mean one thing. He had been there.

"I was an orphan," Marco said. "So was Robin. We had no one to look after us, and, more importantly, no one to miss us. Along with many others, we were taken to Earth, to the laboratories there. We became human guinea pigs. We were tested upon and cast aside if we couldn't take it anymore." Finally, Marco turned around.

Ace was startled by his face, the pain, the sadness, the anger that was written all over it. He took a step in Marco's direction, but stopped then. He didn't know what to say or do, so he just waited for Marco to continue.

"Do you know what a Devil's Fruit is?" Marco suddenly asked.

The name did sound familiar, but Ace had to search his brain. Finally, his school history provided the answer. "Weren't some kind of superchips used in the Third Intergalactic War, the first in which the Earth participated? Humans had invented them to artificially boost the strength of a human and gain weird and unpredictable powers. Weren't they made illegal?" Ace asked.

Marco nodded slowly. "And the method of how they were made was destroyed. Or so everyone thinks."

Ace's eyes widened. "You don't mean…"

"The first chips used destroyed the user from the inside out, which was the main reason why they were banned. The chips also couldn't be controlled. But on Earth, experimentations were continued and the chip was perfected. This is what I wanted to show you." Marco looked over his shoulder at the two moons that had risen at the horizon. He shed his robe, letting it fall on the wood of the deck. He was only wearing boxers. As soon as the light of the moon hit his bare skin, a shockwave went through his body. Ace could see streaks of light going through his veins, looking like lightning. Marco gasped when another wave of lightning hit him and he fell onto his knees.

Ace didn't know what to do. Subconsciously, he took a step forward, but Marco held up his trembling hand.

"D-don't," he managed to bring out. Suddenly, he let out an animalistic scream.

Wide-eyed, Ace could see his body changing. Blue feathers grew out of his body, covering him all over. His arms became longer, changing into wings. His nose grew, forming into a beak.

Before Ace stood nothing other than the enormous blue bird he had seen on his first night.

He didn't know what to do; he could only gape at Marco. Or what had ever been Marco. He didn't know if Marco could still understand him, much less recognise him. He hadn't attacked Ace on the first night, but perhaps he hadn't seen him.

Marco, or the bird, took a step back, like it regretted showing itself to Ace. Ace knew he had to do something, or at least say something, but his body didn't listen to him. He knew of aliens that could transform, but nothing as drastic as this. Was Marco still in there?

The bird turned around and started flapping its wings almost desperately as it fled away.

Ace realised how stupid he had been. Standing like that, gaping at him, Marco had assumed his worst fear had come true; that Ace didn't accept him, that he was scared of Marco.

"Marco, wait!" he yelled.

The bird turned around, still hanging in the air between the trees, ready to sear away at the slightest indication that Ace wasn't okay with this. Ace smiled at him, trying to put him at ease, when Ace suddenly noticed a shadow from the corner of his eye. A giant wormlike creature came into sight, clenching its round mouth filled with sharp teeth around Marco's leg.

"Marco!" Ace yelled again.

The momentum of the worm, its prey safely clenched between its teeth, along with Marco's surprise caused both of them to fall down.

"Marco!" Ace ran to the rail and looked down, but it was completely dark down there. His heart beating in his throat, Ace prayed that Marco would come flying up again. He could surely lift the Raiku, or at least pry himself free? Right?

Minutes passed, and nothing happened. Ace had to stop himself from jumping after Marco. That would do no one any good. He needed to think straight, but the whole thing felt so surreal. Marco had been a test subject for some kind of forbidden chip that transformed him into a bird, only when the light of a moon hit him, it seemed. And now Marco had fallen prey to one of the most dangerous creatures on this planet. Or the most dangerous one that could leap to their level, only because Ace had been too stupid to respond sooner. If he had, Marco wouldn't have doubted him, and he wouldn't have been flying above the ground instead of the safe deck.

Fighting back tears, Ace turned around and ran back to their little house. He needed to calm down, to think about what to do next. He needed to go after Marco, of course, but first he should warn someone. He didn't know who to call, so he took the general phone and dialled a random number that was in there.

"Hello?" said a voice. A pretty but sleepy looking man came into view. He seemed to wake up a little when he saw Ace. "Oh, you must be Ace! Thatch has told me so much about you–"

"There's no time for that!" Ace interrupted him rudely. "Marco's fallen over the edge!"

The man's eyes widened. "What?! Press the red button on the wall. The person closest to you will come as soon as they can."

In the background, Ace could hear a sleepy voice asking something. That must be Thatch, since he was fairly sure the person he was talking with now was Izo. Izo replied, but then turned back to Ace. "Ace, I'm on my way as well. Don't do anything stupid!" He hung up.

Like Ace was going to do something stupid! He was going to get Marco back, that was all. He started packing some things he thought he would need. Water and food pills, of course, and bandages, since Marco was likely hurt. He needed something to see as well, but he had been told that the closer to the ground, the worse electronic devices worked, so he settled for a torch and a lighter. Lastly, he took a gun Marco had shown him once, for self-defence. It didn't shoot lasers, like Ace was used to, but metal pieces, or 'bullets'.

When he had everything he thought he needed, he hastened himself to where Marco had fallen down and drew a large arrow on the wood with a crayon, so if help came, they knew where they had to be. After that, he went to the lift that was located behind the house. It was for emergencies only, if someone or something of value fell over the edge. It didn't work on electricity. Instead, Ace had to turn a handle which brought a rope into motion via a pulley. Slowly, he lowered himself closer to the ground. It had been dark near the tops of the trees, but the lower he came, the darker it became. Still, Ace didn't want to waste his torch. He could only go in one direction now.

Several disturbing sounds reached his ears, and he suppressed a shiver. He couldn't give in to fear. Marco was the only thing that was important right now. As long as he could get Marco to safety, it would be okay, no matter what happened to him.

The lift hit the ground suddenly, and Ace had trouble keeping upright. With shaking hands, he lit the torch. From now on, he would need it. Without it, he wouldn't have been able to see a hand in front of his face. Cautiously, he stepped out of the protective surrounding of the lift. He wasn't immediately jumped by some kind of blood thirsty animal, which he took as a good sign.

"Marco?" he called out carefully. "Marco, are you okay?"

There was no reply.

Swallowing harshly, Ace started to move in the direction he thought Marco had fallen. He couldn't be sure, because it was dark all around him, but standing in the same spot wouldn't help Marco. Ace only hoped his torch would last.

Suddenly, he heard a sound behind him. A large creature ran up to him and tried to jump him. Ace lifted his torch and hit the animal with it. The beast howled and ran off in the darkness. His heart beating loudly, Ace tried to calm himself. It was so dark down here, these creatures probably weren't used to light, which should work to his advantage.

"Marco?" he called again, louder this time. He shone his torch around to take in his surroundings, but by doing so, he didn't look where he was going. He bumped into a blubber like mass. Immediately, he stumbled back and tripped over his own feet. The torch rolled away, but by some miracle, it stayed lit.

Eyes wide, Ace looked up to the Raiku that was in front of him. The monster had its mouth aimed at Ace, his pointy teeth shining in the light of the torch. Slowly, Ace reached to the gun that was in his pocket.

The animal let out a shriek, which was the only warning Ace got before it attacked. Ace pulled the trigger of the gun. The recoil almost caused him to topple over. The Raiku fell forward, and Ace had to shuffle backwards so it wouldn't fall on him. Hastily, he grabbed the torch and walked backwards away from the creature, ready to shoot again if necessary. The Raiku didn't move anymore.

Panting, Ace continued his search. He didn't know how many Raikus were down here, but he hoped not too many. He hadn't seen them jump that often, though Marco had explained that they only jumped once a day, and only then if they hadn't found prey.

"Marco!" he shouted again.

A soft, plaintive sound could be heard, and Ace turned to where it had come from. Close to him was a thing that looked mostly like a giant mushroom. On top of it was a large silhouette lying, shaped like a bird.

"Marco!" Ace called again and ran toward the mushroom. In front of it, he stopped. How was he supposed to climb it?

Clenching the torch between his teeth, he tried to reach the cap by jumping, but it was no use. A slightly disturbing idea came to him. "I'll be right back, Marco," he called. "Don't move!" Hastily, he made his way back to where the dead Raiku was lying. It took some effort to roll its body to the mushroom, but it functioned as an excellent trampoline. After a few tries, Ace could grab the cap of the mushroom and hoist himself up.

His torch had been extinguished while he was jumping up and down, and hastily, he lit it again. Marco, still in his bird form, was lying spread out on the cap of the mushroom. One of his legs was covered in blood. When Ace peered over the other side of the edge, he could see another body of a Raiku lying still. Marco must have managed to fight it off.

"It's okay, Marco, I'm here," he whispered.

Marco made a soft sound.

Ace jammed the torch in the soft cap of the mushroom so it was standing upright. "I'm really sorry about what happened," he said softly. "I was just surprised, but if I had responded quicker, none of this would have happened." He looked up. A tiny bit of moonlight was visible, high in the sky. "I'm going to get you back home, I promise."

Marco whimpered.

Ace bit his lip. He had no idea if Marco understood his words, or maybe just his body language. "I'm going to touch you, okay?" Carefully, he held out his hand, ready to pull back at the first sign of Marco being uncomfortable. Gently, he caressed the feathers on top of Marco's head. They were softer than he had expected.

Marco turned his head his head so he could look at Ace.

"You must be in pain." Ace pulled his hand back and grabbed the bandages. Marco made another sound, but Ace didn't understand what he meant. Instead, he started cleaning the wound on Marco's leg. Marco screeched when the disinfectant made contact with the open wound and started to writhe. Ace pulled back the cloth he was using and started talking in a soothing voice.

"You need to calm down, Marco, or you'll make your wounds worse. Please, I'm trying to help you."

Marco stopped writhing, but Ace could see he was still in pain. "I'll try to make it quick, okay?" He did as he had promised, cleaning the wound as quickly as he could. Marco tried to lay as still as possible while Ace bandaged the wound. After the blood had been washed away, the wound had looked less severe than before, though no less painful.

After Marco's leg, Ace disinfected all Marco's other cuts and scrapes that had been caused by branches and tree bark on his way down. Aside from his leg, Marco's wounds didn't seem too bad, fortunately.

"Can you fly?" Ace asked softly. It would be the easiest way to get out of here, at least for Marco. Ace could always take the lift back up. If he could find it again.

Carefully, Marco sat up, trying to avoid putting too much strain on his wounded leg. Ace supported him as well as he could. Marco spread his left wing out as if he wanted to show something. Trying to remember his lessons about birds, Ace tried to figure out what was wrong with the wing. It didn't appear to be broken, but something didn't seem right. Then it hit him. Some of Marco's primary feathers were damaged or missing, which probably happened while Marco was fighting off the Raiku. It meant Marco wouldn't be able to fly, but fortunately, the damage wouldn't be permanent. The feathers would grow back relatively fast. That didn't help them now, unfortunately. Ace didn't dare to take Marco on his back in bird-shape, afraid to hurt him. Besides, he had no idea how heavy he was. No, it would be better to wait until Marco transformed back. If he transformed back.

"When will you turn back? You will, won't you?" he asked softly. Marco pointed his beak to the sky, as if he was trying to say something. Ace hummed. "Your transformation has something to do with the moon, right? Will you turn back when it turns day?"

Marco seemed to nod, and Ace sighed in relief. "That's good to know. I think it's best to wait till then, don't you?"

A howl sounded near to them on the ground, and Ace grabbed the torch to see what it was. The creature fled as soon as it saw the light. Ace heaved a sigh of relieve and placed the torch back into the hole he had made in the mushroom's cap. "Don't worry," he said to Marco. "I've brought your gun, so we should be safe."

Marco brushed his head against Ace's cheek, and Ace wrapped his arms around Marco's neck. He hadn't realised how tired he was until he felt Marco's soft feathers and warmth. "'m just gonna shut my eyes for a bit, okay?" he mumbled. "Do you need to sleep? You can wake me up in a few minutes…" He trailed off as sleep overtook him.

* * *

Ace woke up with an arm around his waist and a warm body beside him. At first he didn't question it and just snuggled closer. It wasn't like he was cold, but the body heat was soothing.

Something brushed against his forehead, and Ace opened his eyes. Marco's face was suddenly very close. With an excited shriek, Ace wrapped his arms around him and flipped their positions so that he was on top. He kissed Marco intensely. It was good to see him again in human form.

It took him a while to realise that Marco was naked.

When he did, he pulled back, slightly embarrassed, but he couldn't help but steal a glance. Damn, Marco was hot. Ace had already seen him naked once, when he had accidentally walked into Marco in the shower, but now it seemed that Ace's kiss hadn't left Marco entirely unaffected.

Marco coughed slightly embarrassedly so Ace hastily focussed on something else. It seemed Marco had redone the bandages on his leg himself, as dirty pieces of gauze were lying next to them.

"I'm glad you're okay," Ace said, looking anywhere by Marco's naked form. "I'm sorry about what happened."

Marco smiled. "It's okay. I should have trusted you." He leaned in to kiss Ace again. "We can talk more when we're back home, okay?"

Ace nodded, but before he could say something, he was cut off by an angry voice.

"Ace!"

It took a while for Ace to remember why that voice sounded familiar, and why there was someone down here in the first place. He had called Marco's brothers for help, and it seemed Izo had found them.

An angry Izo was a frightening sight, even the animals cowered away from him. Izo had his hands on his hips, guns in either of his hands. "I told you not to do anything stupid, and what did you do? Go right after Marco! Do you know how dangerous that was? You could have been killed!"

"I was worried about Marco," Ace whined, looking over the edge of the mushroom with Marco lying beside him.

"And I wasn't? Now I was worried sick about the both of you." Izo stamped his foot on the ground. "Get down here so I can kick your ass!"

"Are you the only one here?" Marco asked.

His gentle tone seemed to have a calming effect on Izo. "What? No. I should probably warn them I found you." He took a horn that was hanging from his belt and blew it three times. "God, this planet is primitive. Will you get your asses down now?!"

Ace climbed down first, but Marco hesitated. "I'm not dressed."

"Oh, for the love of…" Muttering, Izo took off his jacket. Ace wondered why he hadn't thought of bringing extra clothing, as he had known Marco was naked when he transformed. Maybe because he had been covered in feathers at the time that he fell down. Still, Ace could have at least put a shirt on so he could give it to Marco.

Marco climbed down, careful for his leg, and took Izo's coat gratefully.

Izo looked at his bandaged leg disapprovingly. "Are you gonna tell me how this happened?"

Ace exchanged a look with Marco, who smiled at him. "It's okay. He knows."

"It was my fault," Ace started as Marco wrapped an arm around his and Izo's shoulder for support. "He showed me, and I didn't respond quickly enough–"

"I was grabbed by a Raiku," Marco said to Izo, interrupting Ace's rant. "He messed up my leg, but I managed to fight him off. I landed on that mushroom there, which was lucky."

"You bet it was. Dammit Marco, don't ever do that again! I hate to miss my beauty sleep!"

It was clear even to Ace that missing sleep had nothing to do with Izo's anger.

Izo had brought a compass, a device that Ace had never seen before outside of a computer. This thing didn't even need electricity! Having no electricity certainly made you creative. They soon reached the lift, which was hanging a few meters off the ground, without meeting any animals. Izo explained that they had done that so that the animals couldn't reach it easily. Another thing Ace hadn't thought off.

It turned out that with Izo, three of Marco's other brothers had arrived. Two of them were human, but Namur was a humanoid alien with blue coloured skin. The others introduced themselves as Rakuyo, and Haruta. Ace had heard of Haruta before as the person taking care of insects.

It was a tight fit in the lift, but they made it up. The brothers carried Marco inside, and Izo started making tea like he owned the place. Both Marco and Ace were washed thoroughly because they had touched a mushroom that was poisonous – which Ace hadn't thought about when he climbed it – though Ace had the luxury of taking a shower himself. Since Marco's leg was bandaged, he received a sponge bath by Izo, and Ace didn't envy him.

It was nice to have more people around the house, as Marco was ordered to stay in bed. Rakuyo, Namur and Haruta helped Ace with his chores and taking care of the birds, though it soon became clear that out of them, Ace was the expert. Izo had assigned himself to be Marco's nurse. Several others called in to see how Marco was doing, including Pops and Thatch. Thatch couldn't come since he couldn't leave the animals alone too long, but he had dropped off Izo, like the other brothers had been dropped off by their partners. It turned out everyone worked in a team, and Ace was glad Marco now had him.

However, no matter how nice it was having others around, it did mean that Ace didn't have much time to talk to Marco. He decided not to worry about it too much. After all, their kiss after Marco had transformed back had proven everything was okay between them. Besides, they would have time alone soon enough.

Soon enough turned out to be a week. When Marco's leg was as good as healed, the brothers finally left the small house to go back home to their own planets, but not before Ace promised he would visit soon.

With a sigh, Ace let himself flop on the couch. The house suddenly seemed strangely empty, and it was eerily silent. Marco sat down as well, and Ace smiled as he snuggled up to him. It was nice to sit like this.

Marco leaned in to kiss him, and Ace eagerly responded. Soon enough he was no longer content with sitting together, and he crawled on top of Marco. His mind drifted back to their kiss on top of the mushroom, and how Marco had gotten aroused. He moaned into the kiss. He would love to see Marco like that again. Though, to be fair, he had seen Marco naked twice and Marco hadn't seen him yet. He would have to fix that.

But first there were some things that still needed to be cleared up. Reluctantly, Ace pulled back and sat back beside Marco. "So… Do you change every night?" he asked.

Marco nodded. "My chip is activated by moonlight."

"Wouldn't it be better to stay on a planet without a moon then?" Ace inquired curiously.

"I've tried that, but it makes the next time transforming more painful the more I postpone it," Marco explained.

Ace made a face. "It already looked painful."

"It's not pleasant, but I'm used to it. At least my chip is working regularly." Marco sighed. "No Devil's Fruit is alike. Some activate randomly, some are active almost all the time. Only a few, the last batch made on Earth, are able to work on command and can be controlled by the user."

Ace looked at him wide-eyed. "But if you change every night, don't you ever sleep?"

"I don't, actually. Somehow, being in bird form recharges me, even if I'm still conscious."

Ace was silent for a moment, trying to process the information. "You never told me how you escaped," he said softly.

Marco pursed his lips and was silent for a moment. Finally, he asked, "Have you ever heard of Gold Roger?"

Ace's eyes widened, and he became pale. He hadn't heard that name in a long time. What would he have to do with Marco? He looked down to the floor. "He was a space pirate, executed by the Government."

Marco must have sensed his change in attitude, because he asked, "Ace, are you okay?"

Ace nodded, but continued to evade eye contact. He knew Marco was okay with petty thievery, otherwise he wouldn't be here, but Gold Roger had been the most wanted criminal in the entire universe. He had been despised by all, and his offspring had as well…

"Ace…" Marco touched his jaw, and finally he looked up. Marco looked worried.

Ace bit his lip. This was Marco's story. He shouldn't wallow in self-pity right now. "I'm fine. Go on with your story." He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear it. It didn't surprise him that a lowlife like Roger would do such horrible experiments on humans. Though, Marco had said the Government knew about them…

"Alright. I had been in the laboratories for years, which is where I met Robin, as I told you. In our laboratory – there were several scattered around Earth to see what effect different weather conditions and altitudes had on the chips – there were about ten test subjects. One day, the laboratory was under attack. The attacker was none other than Gold Roger. Somehow, he had found out about what was happening and was determined to put a stop to it. He was the one who saved us, and that was the reason the Government had to stop him. No one could find out about the experiments that had been done on us, or there would be another war. They hunted down the escapees. It was only because I came under the protection of Pops that they weren't able to hurt me." Marco sighed.

Ace's eyes had grown wider during Marco's story. Gold Roger, the most wanted criminal in the universe, had _saved_ Marco?

"Ace," Marco said again.

Ace cast his eyes down. "R-Roger… He was my father." He looked up, his bottom lip trembling. "I thought he was the scum of the universe. I never knew…"

Marco pulled him close. "He is the reason I'm still here. I never thought I'd end up with his son, though." He smiled at Ace.

Ace nodded and kissed Marco's lips.

When he let go, Marco asked, "Do you want to go feed the birds?"

Ace nodded again, and hand in hand, they made their way to the poop deck. As Marco told him something about birds, his arm slung around Ace's shoulder, Ace couldn't help but sappily think he was happy. He would spend his life with birds, and with Marco.

They talked, interrupted by kisses more often than not, until the sun was setting. Marco started to take off his clothes, reminding Ace about his resolve. Well, he was too late now, so he'd better enjoy the show. Unfortunately, like last time, he didn't have much time to look at Marco before he transformed into his bird form. Ace wrapped his arms around his neck. "I'll see you tomorrow then." He took a step back to give Marco some space, but Marco turned his back to him and gestured with his head. "You… want me to get on your back?" Ace asked disbelievingly.

Marco nodded.

Excited and nervous, Ace carefully climbed upon Marco's back, afraid to hurt him. When he had taken a comfortable position and was holding on tight, Marco spread out his wings and ascended. He flew between the trees, and Ace looked down with a grin on his face. This was so much better than flying with a space ship. He could feel the wind in his face and Marco's soft feathers against his skin.

Marco flew further and further, and soon, they left the forest. Ace had never seen the rest of the planet. Marco had told him that it was mostly wastelands with dangerous creatures roaming it, but now he could finally see it for himself.

They flew all night, and by the end, Ace was dead tired, but happy. He had never flown like that before. Marco transformed back in his human form and helped Ace to bed. He lied down next to him, still naked. Something in the back of Ace's mind reminded him that he should be naked as well, but he was too tired right now. "When I wake up, I need to show you something," he said yawning.

Marco smirked. "I was hoping you would say that. But you should sleep first." He pressed a kiss on Ace's forehead. "Sweet dreams."


End file.
